About this item
The bestselling author of Norco '80 returns with a riveting story of mid-1980s San Diego that placed one young Black man at the center of a whirlwind of crime and punishment that profoundly altered Southern CaliforniaMarch 31, 1985. Two white patrol officers in search of a gang member followed a pickup truck carrying seven young Black men up a dirt driveway in the Encanto neighborhood of Southeastern San Diego. Minutes later, gunshots rang out, and the truck's driver, Sagon Penn, fled the scene in an officer's patrol car. The incident stunned the city. What followed would change it forever. Penn was an idealist who believed in the power of Buddhist chants to bring about the oneness of humanity. The two police officers were rising stars in one of the most progressive police departments in the country, yet one that had suffered more officers killed in the line of duty than any other.
About the Author
Peter Houlahan is an author, freelance writer and book review contributor. His work has appeared in CrimeReads, Police One, Salon, L.A. Magazine, Criminal Element, Hearst Newspapers, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Daily Mirror (UK) and the Southern California Newspaper Group. His first book "Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History" was released in 2019 and has been a NY Times "Summer Pick," NPR "Favorite Book of 2019," Wall Street Journal "Readers Pick," and Amazon "Best Book," among others. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College. In his career as an emergency medical technician, he has contributed to a number of articles related to his profession. A native Southern Californian, Houlahan now lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
